A dad who paid off £5,000 worth of gambling debt in just 10 months on an annual wage of £23,000 has revealed his top tips for those looking to save cash in 2022. Take a look below:
Brian Mitchell, 32, from Gloucestershire, had struggled with money for years and at the end of 2019, he realised he needed to make some changes.
At 28, he joined the police force and with his wife Georgie working part-time, they were struggling to get by, especially as they had a daughter to feed.
Looking to make some extra cash, Brian turned to gambling - but soon realised it was a bad idea.
He said: “I was chasing some sort of win to improve my financial situation. Obviously, as with any gambling, this did not work and I found myself in over £5k in credit card debt.”
In less than a year however, Brian was debt-free and is now trying to help others to tackle their own money problems with his blog, ‘Frugal Spender’.
He has also kindly given us a practical list of things you can feasibly do this year that save money.
So grab a pen and paper and prepare to take notes guys!
1. Budget!
Brian revealed that by “putting your income vs outgoings on paper (or a spreadsheet), you will be forced to face the truth”, which is probably the first and most important step of tackling your debt.
He said: “From my experience, you could shave off a fair bit each month by cancelling unused subscriptions and lowering your TV package to what you ACTUALLY watch.”
2. Use the debt snowball
The ex-gambler revealed that an important step to pay off consumer debt (that he himself took) is: “Find out who you owe money to, and how much you owe them.”
One you know this, you can: “List your debts from lowest balance to highest (regardless of interest rate) and start throwing everything you can at the lowest debt, whilst continuing to pay the minimum payments on the rest.”
3. Separate your money
Brian also recommends that we separate our funds for regular expenses like holidays, car insurance etc...
He said: “By keeping this money separate, you are playing a psychological trick on yourself, making it feel like this money isn’t ‘available’ to spend. This was a game-changer for how I now handle my money.”
4. Save for Christmas early
The ‘Frugal Spender’ founder also revealed that we need to start saving for Christmas (yes, I know- already!) as apparently, we will absolutely thank ourselves later.
I don’t know about you but I quite like the idea of thinking about Christmas all year round...
5. Write a shopping list - and stick to it!
We all know how tempting it is to get a little extra here and there however if we use this practical step, we can apparently lock a load off our yearly bills.
"Go back through your online banking to see how much you really spent on average over the last three months on food," Brian explained.
"Once you get over the shock, choose a realistic (very important) amount to stick to every month. Divide that amount by how many shops you do each month, and you have a target."
Featured Image Credit: Jam Press
Frankie Golding